About the House: Know when to replace

Friday

Jun 28, 2013 at 2:00 PM

In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need to replace our water heaters.

By Rob Kinsey

In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need to replace our water heaters. The right temperature water would flow from the faucet every time because the faucet could read our minds and the water would be available naturally.In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need to replace the shingles, because they would never wear out. The closest we can come to that is slate, clay mission tiles or copper, all of which cost the same as a nicely equipped motor home. But in a perfect world, I’m guessing we could all afford a motor home anyway, so that aspect wouldn’t be a problem. It does bring us to the gist of this monologue, though, and that is an article in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.The April issue included an article titled “How Long Will It Last?” a guide to budgeting for home repairs. It tells us to save 1 percent of a home’s value each year for maintenance and repair. I had never given this any thought, but it sounds like a good starting point. The article goes on to give six areas of houses often needing repair or replacement, and the average associated cost of each.I disagree with some of the life spans given for components, and in the case of windows especially, even the need for replacement. The article does emphasize that the figures are typical averages or some such thing, so at least they’re trying.The authors also advise readers to refer to the home inspection report they got when they bought a home. We all have one those don’t we? We all should.At any rate, at least one item from the list is, in my opinion, completely wrong. The article states that copper wiring for the electrical system will last a lifetime and the service panel only 20 to 25 years.The older knob and tube wiring (60-plus years) and the less-old (40 to 50 years) cloth covered romex-style wiring — while made with copper conductors (the actual wire part) — actually often require replacement right now. This is especially true of the knob and tube (K/T) wiring. Its age, and the accumulated years of heating up and cooling down, have made its insulation brittle and broken.The K/T wiring, and any cloth-covered romex-type cables that have breaks or cracks in the insulation, is a potential fire hazard. While older electric panels may not look sleek and modern, they nevertheless are often safe and completely operational, with a few notable exceptions, like Zinseer and Federal Pacific, which I discussed in a previous column.Many people often look to an out-of-town contractor for expertise and experience using the adage that experts always are at least 50 miles away. But if we think about that for a moment, it’s not difficult to see the fallacy of it.The supposed “expert from afar” is, at their hometown location, often just “one of the guys.” Do we suppose the folks living there look in our direction for expert advice? And what about those magazine articles printed at least 50 miles away?While general-interest magazines may provide some good general information, they are not always correct. Look to local experts in a particular trade, or an experienced home inspector, to make sure things are on the up and up About the House.

Rob Kinsey has been a licensed builder for 30 years and is a home inspector with nearly 20 years of experience.